Greetings from sunny Arizona, my lovely readers ...
Like many, our hearts feel broken over the recent hurricane devastation in the Southeast U.S. as we have watched the media stories of Helene, and now maybe hurricane Milton too, so below I will tell you what our hands are doing to help.
I am a practical realist and know that I cannot, at my age of 66, head off to the Southeast to saw trees and build new homes in the aftermath of Helene. You probably can't either. And I can't make a donation the size of a celebrity, either. You probably can't either.
Many Helene hurricane victims have lost everything: their lives, their loved ones, their homes, their businesses, everything. Our hands are helping them by making a donation today through Episcopal Relief & Development. It may be a small donation, but it's a donation, and small amounts, from lots of people, add up.
It can feel sometimes like there is so much suffering in the world today that one little kindness or donation doesn't matter.
Oh, but it does.
Why do we personally choose Episcopal Relief & Development? Steve and I joined the Episcopal church denomination in the early 1980s, and we have been members of, and visited, Episcopal churches across the U.S. on our travels, and I love photographing their welcoming red doors, like the one below.
Our life has been so very enriched by the Anglican Communion. We have met wonderful loving friendly people in U.S. Episcopal churches. Their coffee hours, Shrove Tuesday pancake suppers, Blessing of the Animals, Foyer Groups, and historical stories of how their churches came to be are legendary, touching, and affect generations thereafter. Whenever we have traveled, we know attending an Episcopal church will make us feel at home as all the services and rituals are similar, as is the famous red Book of Common Prayer. In a little Episcopal church we visited in Missouri while on vacation once, they sang a welcome song to us at coffee hour. Steve still talks about that, 40-some years later. The name of the town or church, however, we no longer remember. :)
Affecting generations you say, really now? Just look at this church in downtown Asheville's historical story, for (just) one example. Three persistent pioneer women, indeed! Look at all the good they accomplished, and still are, generations later. And look at how they touched me with their story, all the way in Arizona! (We still hope to take a day trip to this historical church in Arizona in Tombstone, the town "too tough to die.") No kidding! :) Now, the internet can transmit God's grace and stories in a second. After Helene recently, this congregation still met for Sunday services yesterday, according to their website. And their priest has a great blog post on the Book of Job. Oh yes, Job. Most of us know all that biblical Job lost. But we also know what he gained in the end by not turning away from God. I've never been to Asheville, or this church, but I'd like to attend that church if I possibly could one day to soak up all that collective Christian love and grace passed down through the ages.
God's grace is like that: sometimes all you can do is just let go, let God, soak His grace up, and carry on.
Permit me a little nostalgia, please! As I kneeled to pray in the first Episcopal church I ever attended over 40 years ago -- St. John's in tiny Valentine, Nebraska, where Steve and I were living for our first jobs right out of college, I was drawn to look at a stained glass window at the end of the pew aisle when I heard God tell me, "Your work for God will be out in the world, not in the church." I never forgot that message, and whenever I can, however I can, I try to be kind and helpful out in the world, on Christ's behalf, even though my own life, like many people, has had many challenges and pain.
I've also never forgotten the kindness of that little Episcopal church's priest and his teacher wife who welcomed us into the church and even invited us to their home for a lunch gathering with others on Easter. Being young and on our own for the first time, it felt like we'd found home. And to pay it forward, we invited an elderly lady from that church to come to our home for Easter dinner another year. The priest told us she talked about it for months afterward. This was no fancy dinner, mind you. We lived in a tiny newlywed cottage and I made a simple meal and set the table with the only white lace tablecloth I had that we had received as a wedding gift. But everything was cozy and comfy and fun and she loved being part of our meal in our newlywed humble home. After all, Easter is about fellowship, and hope.
And although I have served since in the church as a lay reader, Sunday School teacher, Foyer Group host, and in other various ways, I remember what Christ told me about my work for Him being out in the world, and I take it seriously. I also know now though that realistically I must do it in a way that works for my senior stage of life, so making a donation here is one way I do that.
Oh, and I can write to help others. How-to is my favorite as is encouraging others through words. I realized that God had given me the writing gift from the time I was a young girl when our Lutheran pastor asked to use my paper I had written, "What Being a Christian Means to Me" in his sermon when I was in junior high school. I won my first writing award when I was 17. My first paid article was published when I was in my 20s. And on this word girl goes 'til she can't sit at a computer or see anymore. Because words can help others too and I feel if God gave me a gift, I am to use it to help others.
When I watched online about a Christian family during hurricane Helene, my heart broke for them and their loss. I don't know them personally, but I understood what the Mom meant about Christ's joy even in the midst of suffering when she shared on TV that as her adorable little son Micah was taken down by the flood waters and drowned, the last words he screamed were: "Jesus, I see you!"
I picture Jesus with His arms held out to embrace Micah and take him home.
God bless Micah, this darling Mom and her family, and all who lost all they have in hurricane Helene, and now maybe hurricane Milton. Please know our donation to Episcopal Relief & Development is meant to help you. And our prayers are unceasing at this time.
Love, blessings, Christ's grace, and a red church door,
Kathryn :)
P.S. Steve and I have been doing lots of DIY home organizing and decorating projects over the past three months to our small home and I have taken pix of all of it. I will share our why and how m.o. soon with you to hopefully motivate you to make your own home your cozy dollarwise haven.